Indeed. Obama actually worked with a republican house and senate to make it law that trains such as those, hauling very dangerous chemicals, should have modern brakes in order to reduce the risk of derailment.mickthinks wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2023 10:02 am That's why we need business regulation, dude. Why is there not more regulation of hazardous chemicals on the railroads of 'Merka?
Sadly that law was hobbled by train industry middlemen before it even went to the floor for debate, so the chemicals in question didn't include the vinyls that recently got ignited in Ohio. Had the law stayed in effect, there's a decent chance that train would have had one additional safety feature as it would make business sense to have all your haulage carriages fitted out for crude rather than some subset.
Sadly that regulation was squashed by Trump as part of his effort to keep people like Walker on side. The next guy Walker votes for will be promising to abolish the EPA anyway though, so what real difference is one more death cloud full of cancer going to make?